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Officials ditch Mary Washington College name altogether as school officially becomes a university Date published: 7/2/2004 By KELLY HANNON Mary Washington College is no more--it's now the University of Mary Washington. The university name is not a surprise. It became official yesterday after being adopted in November by the school's board of visitors and signed into law by Gov. Mark Warner. But Mary Washington College has disappeared, as feared earlier by a vocal group of students and alumni and denied at the time by college officials. At a news conference yesterday, UMW President William Anderson said Mary Washington College will no longer be used in connection with the Fredericksburg campus. Instead, it will be referred to as the University of Mary Washington-College of Arts and Sciences. The name Mary Washington College will likely appear only at class reunions, according to Anderson. Before yesterday, college administrators said the university name would merely be an umbrella linking the school's undergraduate campus in Fredericksburg and graduate school in Stafford. The James Monroe Center for Graduate and Professional Studies was changed yesterday to the University of Mary Washington-College of Graduate and Professional Studies. UMW "is the official name, corporate name of the university," Anderson told reporters. The new name will begin appearing on university signs, stationery, admissions materials and merchandise in coming weeks. It will cost about $100,000 to make the changes, Anderson said. The money will come from private donors, he said. Faculty and staff have been asked to drop all references to Mary Washington College in voice mail messages and to stop using MWC stationery. E-mail domains are being changed to umw.edu. The university name will appear on future diplomas, starting with next year's graduating class. But students had been led to believe Mary Washington College would still appear on their diplomas even after a university name was introduced. A question-and-answer section posted on the college Web site last year, before the name was decided, said undergraduates would receive diplomas from "Mary Washington College of: _____ University." In May, Martin Wilder, vice president for enrollment, maintained the college name was not being dropped. "'Mary Washington College' is not being eliminated or anything like that," he said.
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